TRANSCRIPT OF THE G8 JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS MINISTERIAL
PRESS CONFERENCE

(Washington, DC) May 11, 2004 - MR. ASHCROFT: Good afternoon, and thank
you for coming. Today, I had the pleasure and with the European Commissioner
for Justice and Home Affairs, it's a pleasure to have had the opportunity of
sharing together with these individuals common concerns and opportunities.

Today's meeting was the third meeting that I've had the privilege of participating
in and working together with the G-8 Justice and Home Affairs Ministers. I look
forward to these opportunities to meet with my counterparts from around the
globe to discuss urgent threats to public safety that exist for our countries.

Every official attending this meeting seeks the same objectives, through the
same methods greater safety and security for our citizens through closer, smarter,
faster cooperation respecting liberty.

Our efforts come from a shared belief that national security is indivisible
from international security. We recognize an international threat that demands
an international response. We understand that the best of intentions means nothing,
unless those intentions are supported by comprehensive cooperation in fighting
terrorism and international crime.

As recent events in Madrid, Istanbul, in Russia, and elsewhere confirm, the
evil plots of those who would disrupt civilization know no boundaries.

The fight against terrorism must not be limited by our borders. We understand
that we cannot fight these threats separately. If we expect to emerge safer
and more secure, we must fight together.

As a result, global law enforcement, communication, and cooperation, which
was already strong prior to 9/11, has expanded while the relationships between
our respective agencies have grown even stronger. The simple fact is that law
enforcement cannot be carried out internationally without the cooperation of
other nations, but we must do more, and that is what we addressed at today's
meeting.

First, we discussed ways to ensure that our legal frameworks can permit effective
law enforcement action that prevents terrorists from acting on their plans.

This means building on our successful cross-border sharing of intelligence
and focusing on investigations of a broad range of terrorist supportive activities,
including the recruitment of potential terrorists.

Second, we considered ways to prevent terrorists from exploiting weaknesses
in the immigration process.

One such vulnerability is lost or stolen passports. We will work on increasing
international participation in the database regarding lost and stolen blank
passports. It's a problem that is a threat to the security of individuals. The
database is maintained by Interpol, the international police supportive agency.

Third, we discussed ways to impede the ability of terrorists to use the Internet
and escape detection. Today, thanks to the earlier work of the G-8 enforcement
exports and ministers, there is a network of almost 40 law enforcement agencies
from 40 different nations around the world that provide 24/7 around-the-clock
contact in each country for urgent Internet investigations.

At our meeting, we discussed increasing these capabilities even more, and we
will seek ways to strengthen domestic laws that criminalize misuse of computer
networks.

Finally, we agreed to fight corruption and to help recover national assets
that are stolen by corrupt foreign officials.

A few corrupt leaders are alleged to have stolen billions during their misrule,
and since many of the world's largest financial institutions are in G-8 countries,
we can play a significant role in helping recover these criminal proceeds, proceeds
that should have been devoted to the public good that went into the coffers
representing private greed.

Government, corrupt governments create environments where criminal and terrorist
organizations can flourish. Fighting the scourge of corruption promotes stability,
contributes to security as well as prosperity. As always, I have enjoyed this
opportunity to meet with my fellow Justice officials. I have profited from hearing
their perspectives on these issues. I look forward to working with them in common,
to work toward our common goal of overcoming the great challenges that our nations
face.

It will be my pleasure now to call upon Tom Ridge, who acted as co-host for
the meeting, to make remarks. Tom.

SECRETARY RIDGE: Thank you, John.

First of all, I join with our Attorney General in expressing our gratitude
for the presence and the participation of our colleagues from the G-8.

As many of you know, this is the first time that the G-8 meeting included a
representative from the United States from the Department of Homeland Security,
inasmuch as this department is slightly more than a year old, but the collective
wisdom of the ministers of -- Legal Ministers, those who serve in a similar
capacity as the Attorney General, and Ministers of Home Affairs, Counter-Terrorism,
and the collective wisdom during the past two days, as discussed both publicly
and privately, made it very clear to me that also a collective will to come
at the many challenges of international terrorism within the G-8 community,
to hopefully lead a broader discussion as well as, within the international
community, reaching to some international conclusions that will enhance the
security of the entire world.

It was pretty clear, if I might just make a couple of brief observations from
my participation, that the men and women representing their countries here understood
that terrorism anywhere weighs heavily on the hearts of those of us who live
and work and enjoy the benefits of freedom, wherever -- wherever we may reside.

It is also our collective responsibility to do something about this scourge
of international terrorism, and that's very much been driving the agenda of
the G-8 since September 11th of 2001.

There are a couple of notions that I would share with you around which there
is universal agreement that the threat of international terrorism is not unique
to any of the individual countries here. We accept it as a potential to occur.
It has occurred in many of our countries, but that potential to rear its head
again certainly exists, but not only within the G-8, but there's an understanding
among these countries that it is a worldwide potential.

It is also a collective understanding that because of the globalization of
our world, of transportation, of commerce, of communication, of education, that
it is in our collective interest that we keep our doors open to each other and
to the rest of the world, but again, we work in a collective and collaborative
spirit to make sure that the borders are secure.

And to that end, we also agreed, and again, this is such a powerful statement,
that it is in everyone's best interests, again, the collective view, the collective
aspiration that as we go about setting standards that will enhance our security
of our own individual countries, we need to set these standards in a way that
enhance security of all countries, and to that extent, it is generally agreed
that as we reach for biometric standards, as we look for ways to authenticate
the identity of people, or to verify the authenticity of documents, that the
G-8 take a leadership role in identifying what those biometric parameters would
be and the technology that we would only -- not only in the G-8, but encourage
our colleagues from around the world to use, as well.

We agreed that it's in our collective interest to deal with the various challenges
surrounding port security. There's been much discussion and much support among
the G-8 countries with the
Container Security Initiative that the United States began well over a year
ago, but it involves far more than that, and again, it is the judgment, the
group's judgment, that we all have a role and all have a need to deal not only
with the security of the ports in the United States but in collective port security
and ship security around the world.

We agreed that sharing information, and particularly, as General Ashcroft mentioned,
lost and stolen passports -- certainly, there is a huge industry around the
world with regard to fraudulent documents.

When you couple that with lost and stolen passports, which have enabled people
to violate our borders and to -- basically, had we known they were coming across
them, would have not been welcomed, it's something where we need to look for
ways to share that information as quickly as possible so we can take the necessary
action if one of them were used to gain unlawful access to cross our borders.

Again, I think the extraordinary tone of this -- these two days was about the
integration of countries. The Department of Homeland Security is tasked with
the integration of the different levels of government and the private sector
within the United States, but the G-8 meetings over the past few days have really,
in a very profound and public way, talked about the integration of nations as
we go about seeking collective answers to our collective security challenges
in a global world where each and every one of these countries seeks to keep
its doors open, but it's more secure, and I'm confident that with the statement
that we issue today and the plan of action ahead, that the action of this group
will not only lead to more security for these eight countries, but an enhanced
security for all the countries of the world.

So I thank my colleagues for the opportunity to participate today, and their
enormous contribution to the security of the entire world.

MR. ASHCROFT: I would at this time invite any other one of the ministers
from any other country that want to make remarks to do so.

MR. ASHCROFT: Are there questions that you would like to ask?
Yes, sir.

QUESTION: Andre Sevranski (phonetic) TASS News Agency of Russia.
You had separate meetings with your Russian counterparts, and how would you
describe those meetings, and in general, how would you describe the level of
cooperation between U.S. and Russian law enforcement agencies?

And secondly, you might be aware of the latest terrorist attack in Chechnya
in which the President of the republic and five other people died, and have
your Russian counterparts been given any specific information regarding terrorist
activities in Chechnya? Thank you.

MR. ASHCROFT: Well first of all, I'm delighted to have the opportunity
of meeting with Procurator General Ustinov when I have been in Russia before.
I'm delighted that he has come, and with the Minister of Interior from Russia
to come, and we will be, I believe, meeting additionally.

I have -- as you notice; I mentioned in my remarks at the news conference today
the recent events in Russia. I think those of us who looked at the New York
Times, I believe it was yesterday, were -- could not help be struck by the picture,
the one picture at one moment which showed the leadership of the region sitting
together, and the next picture, that area devastated as a result of the explosion.

I would characterize our meetings as being most valuable, our cooperation as
being fruitful, and something for which I am grateful. We look forward to finding
ways of improving our ability to serve the international community constantly.

Let me just say that I appreciate the contribution made by our Russian counterparts
in the meetings today. In particular, I found them instructive and I intend
not only to have listened to the translation, but I intend to get a transcript
so that I can follow them more carefully.

Terry?

QUESTION: For the American delegates and anyone else who may wish to
comment, There is some horror today that, on this day when you're meeting here,
that in Iraq, one of the terrorist leaders, al-Zakawi, is claiming credit for
a truly brutal killing of a U.S. citizen, and so my question to you, Mr. Ridge,
and any others who wish to comment is, in your discussions about fighting terrorism,
was there any discussion about whether the apparent abuse of Iraqi prisoners
will make it more difficult in the U.S. or even Europe to counter terrorism?

Was there any discussion about that, and if there wasn't, is there any concern
about that, sir?

MR. ASHCROFT: Well, I can speak for myself that the abuses which have
been revealed are appalling, and I think that is understood, and as we have
had a chance to speak one with another, I think we all, the members of the civilized
community, are appalled by abuses.

The United States is a big country, and sometimes it makes serious mistakes,
and the United States has investigated those mistakes and shared its responsibilities
for those mistakes with the world.

We will correct those mistakes, and we are obviously not the kind of people
who endorse those mistakes. We would correct those mistakes.

We are not the kind of country that would hide those mistakes or that those
mistakes would be a common practice in our country.

There are regimes that have had a practice of doing things that are reprehensible.
That is not the practice of the United States.

And as I speak for myself, and I cannot speak for the rest of this community
here, I believe the United States is appalled by those practices and that we
will correct them.

SECRETARY RIDGE: I think the Attorney General has expressed quite well
the feeling of the men and women with whom we've had these discussions, and
certainly the belief within the Administration.

I think we need to understand that al-Zakawi or none of the other terrorist
leaders have needed in the past any particular provocation for their deadly,
destructive designs and conduct.

I think it's also very important to note that, as the Attorney General mentioned,
there has been within our system, within the democracies that have pledged their
collective effort to deal with international terrorism, within unique institutions
of those democracies are means and ways to, one, share this kind of conduct
that we all find so abhorrent with the international community, and a system
of justice here, the Uniform Code of Military Justice, that ultimately holds
the -- holds people accountable and merits and warrants punishment, depending
on the severity of the misconduct.

So we are -- this conduct is open for the entire world to see, and certainly
there's been a great deal of commentary on what was done and what was done wrong.
Hopefully, there will be similar commentary as the United States addresses and
redresses this horrible, this unconscionable conduct in a very unique and very
democratic way, open transparency with accountability and consequences.

QUESTION: Pat Reber from the German Press Agency.

I note the absence of the ministers or representatives from Germany and France,
and I'm wondering if you could comment on that, please.

MR. ASHCROFT: Well, I was delighted that both nations sent their ministers,
Minister Schily, the Minister of Interior from Germany, and Minister Zypries,
they were both here. They participated actively in all of the sessions, the
three plenary sessions, and in the informal events. They were scheduled to fly
back to Germany and left a very short time ago.

Minister de Villepin from France followed them shortly after they left, to
be a part of his travel schedule, as did Minister Perben, the Minister of Justice
from France.

Each of those ministers made significant contributions and participated actively
in the meeting, and we were delighted to have such a thorough involvement of
ministers from the G-8, but in those countries, the ministers themselves were
here and were active in participation.

QUESTION: Sabrina Cohen from AP (inaudible).

One of the points that you highlighted was fighting corruptions, and you mentioned
that most of the most important banking systems are on the G-8 countries, but
unfortunately, most of the money are hiding not on let's say Italian or German
(inaudible) but like Switzerland tax shelters.

How do you intend to fight those kind of, let's say corruptions, because the
money sometimes is not on, let's say, Western banks?

MR. ASHCROFT: Well, let me just thank you for the -- for the question
about corruption.

I believe that corruption is a tremendous tax on the poor. It takes the resources
that were designed to build roads or schools or other infrastructure on which
poor people have an opportunity to build a path toward prosperity and freedom,
and it takes money from the public good and places it in private greed.

In the United States, we have individuals who, and situations that are under
investigation here. I recently delivered a check to one of our South American
government friends that resulted in funds that we were able to confiscate and
return to the ownership of the people of that nation, rather than have them
reside in our financial institutions for the benefit of the person who had been
involved in greed and corruption.

Now, the G-8 community is a leadership community. This organization does not
purport to be a world organization, but when the G-8 acts, it influences the
activities and conduct of others.

Most of us participants in the G-8 recently signed the UN Convention against
Corruption, which was signed in Merida, Mexico. I personally attended that convention
signing ceremony in Merida, and I've personally made it an element of emphasis
that we would fight corruption.

So I believe that the steps taken by the G-8 are leadership steps. When we
do locate assets and when there is adequate proof of those assets having been
the product of corrupt activities, we can return those assets to the cultures
from which they were stolen, to the governments, so that they can be applied
to the people.

There are, obviously, times when the assets are not resident in our banks,
but that means we have to fall back on other organizations, and those signatories
of the UN Convention, and frankly, I think well over 100 nations, or right in
the neighborhood of 100 nations, have signed the UN Convention, so we're making
significant worldwide progress with a worldwide consensus that corruption is
a tremendous weight on the poor of the world and we need to fight it in a coordinated
way.

QUESTION: General Ashcroft, do you have any reaction to the videotape
that surfaced today of the murder of an American, and will the Department of
Justice get involved in trying to track down the perpetrators?

MR. ASHCROFT: I have not seen the videotape. The murder of Americans
is always a matter of concern to us. The terrorists have been doing everything
they could to murder Americans on a day-by-day basis, but before I try to make
any specific comment on the tape, it would be inappropriate for me to do so
without understanding it more fully. We've been involved in these meetings today.

We take very seriously, though; the murder of individuals, and obviously it's
my responsibility as it relates to items that come within the jurisdiction of
the American law relating to the protection of American citizens. And so I would
leave it at that level.

QUESTION: Kimberly Halkett from Global News Canada. I actually have
a question for Canada's Justice Minister, Mr. Cotler. I'm just wondering what
you feel Canada's contribution will be to the sort of collective global fight
on terror. And my second question is, also I'm wondering, given your extensive
background in human rights, where you weigh in on this issue of the abuse scandal
in Iraq and how that might hurt this again collective effort in fighting terror.

MR. COTLER: Thank you for the question. I think its important maybe
to point out, and if I may do so on behalf of my colleagues, we adopted today
a significant and comprehensive blueprint or plan of action in four distinct
areas.

The first is the one that you mention in terms of initiatives with respect
to counterterrorism law and policy.

The second has to do with the integrity of border and transportation security.

The third is the combating of cyber crime, particularly in matters of hate
crimes, cyber terrorism and cyber pornography.

And finally, as Attorney General Ashcroft mentioned, combating corruption.
I mention this because as I mentioned to my Russian colleague just before we
came in that it might have taken, you know, a much longer time, years maybe,
for some of our parliaments to adopt these measures.

And his answer was very important here, and that is that it was because of
our ongoing bilateral cooperation and multilateral approach that we were able
to do this. And this can resonate as a blueprint for action for countries beyond
the G8, and indeed, with regard to parliaments the world over.

And all this is underpinned by three principles, and this relates specifically
now to your question. The first is the relationship between security and rights
in the struggle against terrorism.

The position that we took and was one shared by all is that there is no contradiction
between a commitment to security and a commitment to human rights. This is not
an either/or proposition.

If we understand terrorism to be an assault on the security of democracy and
an assault on the fundamental rights on its inhabitants, we must see counterterrorism
law and policy as being the protection of the security of democracy; indeed,
the protection of human security in that regard, and the protection of the most
fundamental rights of each of its inhabits; namely, the right to life, liberty
and security of the person.

Clearly, whatever is undertaken with respect to antiterrorism law and policy
in the course of the enforcement and application must conform with international
and domestic human rights safeguards. But we take the notion, therefore, the
protection of human security and human rights, as underpinning this entire antiterrorism
law and policy.

The second principle, and it has been mentioned, is that no country alone can
combat this global threat of terrorism. Indeed, the way to look at this, and
I think we have mistakenly looked at this up to now as being sometimes a kind
of domestic criminal law due process model. But what we're dealing with is a
transnational threat that in fact is assaultive of the peace and security of
humankind as a whole.

In other words, we're not dealing with ordinary crime. We're dealing with crimes
against humanity. We're not dealing with ordinary criminals. We're dealing with
what is called in law hostis humanus generis, the enemies of humankind. And
in that sense, it will take a global response, particularly with justice ministers
in the moral and intellectual and policy leadership to combat this transnational
global threat.

And the final point here, and it has not perhaps been stressed sufficiently,
and that is the interrelationship between hate and terrorism. One of the enduring
lessons of Nazism and more recently of the genocide of Rwanda, and we just commemorated
the tenth anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda, is that this genocide, these
killing fields, occurred not simply because of the machinery of death, but because
of a culture of hate. It was this teaching of contempt, this demonizing of the
other; this is where it all begins.

And in answer again specifically to the Supreme Court of Canada put it in very
telling words: That the Holocaust did not begin in the gas chambers; it began
with words. These, as the Court put it, are the catastrophic effects of racism.
These are the chilling facts of history.

So our approach is to have a zero tolerance policy with respect to hate in
order that we can accomplish a zero tolerance policy with regard to terrorism.

On the particularity of what is now happening in Iraq and how this impacts
on all of this, I think the Attorney General spoke for his country and I think
for all of us here when he expressed the manner in which the United States and
its leaders feels appalled by what has happened. And the test of course will
be the manner in which a democracy like the United States will be able with
respect to protection of the rule of law, and with regard to public accountability,
with regard to mobilizing its own human rights response, be able to provide,
as Attorney General Ashcroft put it, a proper corrective to that which they
have themselves acknowledged as being something for which they are appalled.

Thank you.

QUESTION: A question for the Russian Minister of Interior, and first
who is the new person of your ministerial meeting. Mr. Nurgaliev. What do you
think about problem of Chechnya? You know that there are money which coming
from abroad to Chechen rebels, and it's a big question there is money rising
from many organizations which are in the countries of -- what could you say
about this problem? And have you any talks how to stop this money rising, which
are coming from abroad which gives support to Chechen rebels?

MR. NURGALIEV: Thank you for your question. That's true. We have had
discussions today of this subject within the framework of discussing international
terrorism.

We touched on the problem of financing, the channels of financing. It is important
to take note of the activities of organizations which launder money and do it
not only in Russia but other countries of the world. For organizations of this
sort, we have also held bilateral talks which would -- in which we discuss the
ways of stopping the flow of money channels. We have worked with our partners
in creating means among countries where there are illegal organizations on both
sides and try to stop their work.

We believe that this is a very important activity, and we've discussed not
only international terrorism but found that the issue of corruption, when that
came up, we once again discussed this issue, because financial support for terrorists
is not only problem number one in Russia but throughout the world, and for that,
we must undertake mutual steps in order to prevent money moving into the hands
of the illegal organizations, which only bring death and blood on the hands
of all of humanity.